ABOUT VALERIE PLAME
Photo Credit: Jay Hemphill
A former career covert CIA operations officer, Valerie Plame worked to protect America’s national security and prevent the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, in particular, nuclear weapons. During her career with the CIA, Valerie managed top-secret covert programs designed to keep terrorists and rogue nation states from acquiring nuclear weapons. This involved decision making at senior levels, recruiting foreign assets, deploying resources around the world, managing multi-million-dollar budgets, briefing US policymakers, and demonstrating consistently solid judgment in a field where mistakes could prove disastrous. She was also involved in covert cyber operations and counterterrorism efforts.
Valerie has served on numerous nonprofit boards, including The Ploughshares Fund, Global Zero, the United Way of Santa Fe County, the Penn State School of International Affairs, and Postpartum Support International. She is also a member of the Council of Foreign Relations and host of the popular espionage conference “Spies, Lies & Nukes.”
Valerie has done extensive public speaking throughout the country and internationally on cyber security issues, national security, nuclear proliferation, and women in intelligence. She has written for many national publications, including Foreign Policy, Time, Newsweek, CNN, The Daily Beast, and The Huffington Post.
Valerie is the author of The New York Times best-selling memoir Fair Game: My Life as a Spy, My Betrayal by the White House, which was released as a major motion picture of the same name starring Sean Penn and Naomi Watts. Along with Sarah Lovett, she published the well-received fictional spy thrillers Blowback and Burned.
In 2020, Valerie ran for Congress to represent New Mexico's Third Congressional District. She is married and the mother of twenty-something twins.